HUMIC COMPOUNDS IN SEAWATER AND MARINE-SEDIMENTS FROM ANTARCTICA

This paper reports the results of various types of analysis and physic o-chemical characterization of several samples of humic compounds extr acted from Antarctic seawater and marine sediments. Several features o f Antarctic humic compounds are evidenced. In seawater only fulvic aci ds are present. Fluorescence spectra of filtered seawater are similar to those of aquatic fulvics extracted from the same location. In sedim ents, only humic acids are present; they are characterized by a high a liphatic fraction and large quantities of aminoacids, as shown by NMR and IR. The particulate is a mixture of inorganic and organic matter, the latter consisting of proteinaceous material, carbohydrates and lip ids.